Case of the Paranoid Pop Star
by Mysteria Pearl
Summary: Kogorou, Conan, Ran, and Conan are asked by Sonoko to protect her popstar cousin, Jonoko. Suspects abound when Jonoko is poisoned. Who could be the culprit? Two-shot. NEWLY COMPLETED!
1. The Poisoning

**Case of the Paranoid Star-- A Detective Conan / Case Closed fanfiction**

**Hi all! This is my first real mystery case that I've written, but the idea came to me awhile back. This is the first of three cases I've planned, so read on! yay! This is part one of a two-shot!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or any of the characters.**

**Whenever Conan / Shinichi thinks, it's Shinichi, whenever he talks, it's Conan (since that's the way the voices work) **

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"Like, I'm so glad you decided to come with me, Ran!" Sonoko said cheerily as she slid out of the limo seat tugging up her strapless neon green dress, "You too, Mr. Mouri! Jonoko will feel totally safe with you around!"

Kogoro grinned and cockily straightened his tie as he stepped out, helping Ran out after him,  
"Why thank you. I am, after all, a professional!" He said. He glared at Conan, who was struggling to get out of the limo on account of his stubby little legs, "But did we really have to bring the squirt? I shouldn't need to babysit him at an adult party."

'Oi, oi,' Shinichi thought to himself, 'You wouldn't have been invited if I hadn't made you famous.'

"Don't worry, Dad," Ran said as she leaned over and straightened Conan's new black jacket, "I'll look after him. Right, Conan?"

'Yeah, whatever.' Shinichi thought sarcastically while Conan said,.  
"Yeah that'll be great!" Conan said enthusiastically as he forced a sweet smile at Kogoro..

Sonoko had come to the Mouri Detective Agency a few days before with a request for her best friend's 'old man'. Her cousin Jonoko Suzuki, a famous pop artist, was having a party to celebrate the release of her new album and would like protection. Of course, Kogoro would "Never turn down a beauty in distress!"

"Strange place to have a party." Kogoro said as he looked up at the gray, windowless building. It was a large convention center that was in the middle of a business mall.

"Yeah!" Conan said, his detective mind suspicious, "Don't stars usually have parties in big mansions or something?"

"Conan, don't be rude... I'm sure the manager knows exactly what's he's doing." Ran said, delicately adjusting her burgundy knee-length dress.

Sonoko grinned,  
"Oh my gosh, that's the genius of it! Like, Jonoko's manager and her boyfriend decided to have it at this convention center! Totally retro, huh!? Her manager, Manny, said it was the perfect place! And her boyfriend, Boi said it would be, like, totally safe!"

"Manny the mamager and her boyfriend Boi?" Conan and Ran asked simultaneously, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Sonoko said with a grin, "Boi's hilarious! He's got this amazing hairstyle and great clothes-- you'll just have to wait and see for yourself!"

"Boyfriend..." Kogorou muttered as he slumped down, "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Oh, and Manny's a kinda greasy-looking guy who's overweight, wears coloured glasses and an ascot." Sonoko added, ignoring the depressed. so-called detective.

"They're all weirdos in show business." Kogoro grumbled as he tipped the limo driver and the company entered the seemingly-quiet convention center. Multicoloured lights and loud music sprang out at them as scantily-clad stars posed cheesily for newspaper pictures.

Kogoro combed his hair quickly, popped two breath mints into his mouth and strutted inside, excited to meet the ladies. Conan eyed the punchbowl suspiciously as Sonoko loudly introduced Ran to some acquaintances.

Kogoro had just waltzed up to a busty blonde woman with obviously whitened teeth when Sonoko made a delighted squeal and dragged Ran, Kogoro, and Conan back to the door where a crowd was beginning to gather.

"They're here!" Someone cried giddily as cries of "Jonoko! Jonoko!" grew loud.

'I hate being so small!" Shinichi thought to himself as Conan strained to catch a glimpse of the star. Soon, a spiky-haired brunette woman dressed in black with neon highlights and accessories entered in the arms of a tough looking man, dressed in skulls with a large green mohawk and plentiful facial piercings.

The couple, accompanied by a large bodyguard, weaved their way to Sonoko

"Jonoko! It's so wonderful to see you!" Sonoko cried as she waved and latched onto the nervous-looking girl.

"This way, please." The bodyguard said as he hurriedly escorted them to a private room where an overweight man was waiting and munching on horsderves.

As the door clicked closed, the teenage idol looked around herself nervously,  
"Boi, Manny, Sonoko, who are these people? Are they to be trusted?" She asked, gripping the man with the green mohawk's hand and pointing a shaky finger as Ran, Kogoro and Conan.

"Oh, this is my bestest friend, Ran Mouri, her old man, Kogoro" "Hey!" "And the little boy's Conan Edogawa--" "A freeloader!" Richard interrupted.

"Like I was saying, Mr. Mouri's the detective-- you know, the protection you wanted." Sonoko said cheerily.

"Oh good!" Jonoko said, nodding vigourously as she turned back to the door and locked it.

'Why did she do that?' Shinichi asked himself as the star turned back the the company.

"Ah!" The manager, taking Kogoro's hand and shaking it excessively, "Nice to meet you, sir! I'm Manny-- Jonoko's manager. So you're the famous detective, eh!? I'm a big fan of your work!" Richard's head began to swell comically as he laughed conceitedly,  
"Yes, I am amazing, aren't I?"

"You better be pretty amazing." The man with the tall green mohawk said stiffly, "And nothing bad better happen to Jonoko."

"What do you mean, '_nothing bad_'?" Kogoro asked suspiciously.

Shinichi noticed that both Manny and Boi looked uneasy at the question. The Gothic man was the first to speak. He bent over and smiled a bit at Conan,  
"Kid, would ya mind taking Jonoko over to that table over there and getting some punch?" he asked, motioning to a table at the other side of the room. Conan raised his eyebrow but grinned childishly after a moment,  
"Sure thing, sir!"

Conan took the glamorous woman by the hand,  
"This way, Ma'am!" he said sweetly. The woman glanced over at Boi.

"It'll be fine sweetie. Go on." Boi said reassuringly as Conan took Jonoko over to the refreshment table.

AS soon as they were out of hearing range, Boi turned back to the company,  
"Sorry about that. Jo' is just a little... Well... she's slightly..."

"She's completely paranoid!" Manny interrupted, "She terrified at first of anyone she doesn't know and even locks every door in sight-- it's really starting to tamper with our success."

Conan narrowed his eyes from across the room as he strained to hear.  
'Our success?' Shinichi thought to himself as Jonoko poured three four glasses of punch and handed him two.

"To make matters worse," Boi said, "Jonoko's been targeted lately."

"That's terrible!" Ran said softly.

"Unfortunate." Kogoro said scratching his mustache, "Any idea by who?"

Manny dabbed his brow with a red handkerchiefs,  
"No idea whatsoever. There's been no clues. Whoever the perp is, he's good."

Jonoko and Conan returned to the group. Conan handed a cup to Ran and Sonoko handed her second cup to Boi.

"Thank's sweets." Boi said as he down his glass. Ran polietly sipped hers and smiled,  
"Thank you Conan." she said sweetly. Inside, Shinichi's face was ablaze and Conan scuffed his toe on the floor as she ruffled his hair.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Manny said suddenly, picking up a bag off of a nearby chair, "In order to thank Mr. Mouri and guests for their help, Boi wanted to give you all a free CD."

The sweaty manager proceeded in handing Sonoko, Ran, Kogoro and Conan a signed CD. As Manny stuffed the extra discs back into the bag, a damp blue handkerchief fell to the floor. Manny didn't seem to notice and he continued talking to the guests.

Conan quietly picked up the cloth and brought it to his nose. After a second, he inconspicuously dropped it to the ground,  
"Hey mister!" He said childishly as he picked up the hanky and waved it in the air, "You dropped your handkerchief--"

Before he could finish, the manager snatched the damp cloth from Conan's small hand and smiled,  
"Why thank you, my lad!" He said as he stuffed the hanky in his pocket, "That's the only one I brought today! I get mighty sweaty when I'm nervous about big appearances-- especially with such a famous celebrity!"

Conan slightly narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"Boi!" Jonoko whispered sharply. All eyes shot to the star, who blushed and clung to the man's arm, "Sorry, I just need to go to the bathroom..."

"Okay, hon. Go put your purse down so it doesn't get taken and Sonoko and Ran will take you."

As she slowly crossed the room and set her bag on a chair, Boi turend to the two,  
"She's a bit paranoid about these things, you know... she's got something like a bathroom ritual. No one can go into the restroom or the stalls with her and you gotta stay with your back to the door until she comes out. Make sure no one's in there when she goes in and no one else goes in afterward."

"Ok." Sonoko and Ran said quietly as Jonoko came back and linked arms with both of them.

"There's a bathroom right across the main room." Manny said as he opened the private room door and motioned outside.

"We'll watch from here." Kogoro said in response to the anxious look that Jonoko gave him.

Conan tugged on Ran's skirt as she and Sonoko began to usher the pop sensation out of the room, Shinichi's mind suspicious,  
"Ran-neechan, Ran-neechan, I have to go too!" he whined childishly."

"Ok, come on." Ran said with a smile as she took him by the hand and led him out into the bustling party as Shinichi thought,  
'Man, this is humiliating... if Dr. Agasa and Haibara hear about this, they'll never let me live it down.'

Conan kept his eye on the star, carefully cataloging every moment she came in contact with anything.

Ran went into he bathroom first to make sure it was empty and emerged a few moments later,  
"All clear." she said as she turned the handle and opened the door wide for Jonoko.

"A-Are you sure it's safe?" The spiky-haired brunette asked as Sonoko pushed her inside,  
"Like, don't even worry about it! We'll be right here!" the Suzuki girl said with a toothy grin. Conan watched as the door closed behind the girl and Ran and Sonoko stood with their backs to it, then he darted inside the adjacent Men's Room.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings, making sure there was no one inside and then pressed his ear against the wall between the two bathrooms. After a moment, he heart a loud click, then footsteps, followed by the stall door swinging open and closed and then locking.

'What was the click?' Shinichi wondered to himself, 'She hadn't taken anything into the bathroom to put down, like a purse, did she? No... she left that on the chair...'

The toilet flushed but everything seemed normal. He could hear her heels echoing across the floor and the water at the sink turning on then off. He heard Jonoko pull a paper towel from the dispenser and then heard her footsteps walk across the floor.

Something clicked again and then he heard her at the door. Conan quickly ran into a stall, flushed the toiled, turned off and on the faucet and ran out to the girls.

Halfway back to the door, Boi met them, holding a large platter of tiny pastries,  
"Hors' dervs?" He asked with a grin.

"Sure!" Sonoko said as she grabbed a handful. Ran smiled politely and took a small one and Jonoko shyly also took one.

"You too, kid?" Boi asked, bending down. Conan forced a fake laugh and took one. Boi took one also and they all began to eat them as Kogoro and Manny approached them from the room.

Conan was about to ask Kogoro if anything strange had happened yet when there was a loud thump from behind him, followed by a shriek. Conan whipped around and found the star on the floor, holding her neck. Conan quickly knelt down, felt her pulse-- it was still there, but weak and her throat had become swollen.

"Jonoko's been poisoned! Call an ambulance! Hurry! Someone! Jonoko needs medical attention!" Conan shouted. Soon, commotion filled the room and the roaring of an ambulance filled the air.

"Jonoko! Jonoko!" Sonoko sobbed as she held her cousin's head off the floor, "Hang on!" Ran covered her mouth with her hand and her ankles wobbled as the paramedics rushed in and took Jonoko out to an ambulance. and police men entered

"It must be the pastry that she ate!" Manny cried with his finger in the air, "There must have been poison in it!" All eyes turned to Boi, who had offered the treat.

"Officers," Kogoro shouted, "Arrest Boi for poisoning Jonoko!"

With a shout, two heavy officers tackled the man with the green mohawk and handcuffed him.

'No...' Shinichi thought to himself, 'I don't think it was Boi... there's something much deeper to this mystery than simple poisoning... After all, everyone took one and we're all fine... Even if there were only a few poisoned and he knew which Jonoko would take, Sonoko took a whole handful...'

He shook his head again, 'No... I know who the poisoner is... but how did he do it and why?'

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**So, was the first chapter good? I hope you like it! I can't wait to write the next chapter! This is definately going to be a two-shot now, so please check back soon for the conclusion! Thanks!**

**Please leave a review and check out some of my other stories!**

**Mysteria Pearl**


	2. Conclusion

**Time for the conclusion! Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the rest of this story! By the way, I know Boi doesn't seem like your typical Gothic guy, but he's more of a nice guy than anything else. :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or any of the original characters**

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"Get off of me!" Boi shouted as the ambulance roared away, "I'm not the one who did it! Get off me!" he squirmed under the heavy police-men.

Inspector Meguire had shown up minutes later and blocked the door,  
"Sorry, people." He said to those surrounding him, "But no one leaves until this case is completely solved." With that, he turned and locked the door behind him.

Conan's eyes shot open,  
'That's it! I know how Jonoko was poisoned and who did it!' Shinichi thought triumphantly as Boi began to shout again,  
"Let me go! I need to get to the hospital for Jonoko!"

"Shut it!" Manny said from above him, "You poisoned Jonoko with that hors d'oeuvé! How despicable!" He mopped his sweaty brow and turned to Kogoro, "Detective Mori, do you mind if I step out for a moment, not that the _criminal_ is caught." he said as he gave a sharp glare to the Gothic man, "I feel terribly faint!"

'No!' Shinichi thought as he readied his dart watch, "Boi's not the one who poisoned Jonoko! If Manny gets away now, he's going to ditch the evidence!'

Kogoro scratched his mustache,  
"Well... I guess it's okay since we already got-- AIEE! Woah, what's for dinner!?" Kogoro slurred as he fell into a precariously placed chair and passed out.

'Yes!' Shinichi thought as he crawled under the punch table and dialed his bow-tie voice changer, 'Direct hit!'

"Hold it right there!" Conan said into the bow-tie, his voice changing into Kogoro's, "You're not going anywhere."

Manny froze, one hand on the door. He turned around, faking a smile,  
"What's the matter, Detective Mori?" He asked.

"Boys, get off Boi." Conan said in Kogoro's voice.

"Ran," Sonoko whispered to her friend. Ran turned to the girl in the neon dress. "Ran, I don't know about this-- I remember Boi said to me awhile back that he would do something _really surprising_ tongiht!"

"I'm sure my dad knows what he's doing..." Ran whispered back.

The multiple officers hesitantly rolled off of the man and Boi sat up, cracking his neck.

"What are you doing!?" Manny cried as the man stood, "You just let go that _fiend--_the one who just poisoned Jonoko!"

"Wrong." All eyes in the room turned to the seated detective, "How _could _Boi poison Jonoko? He didn't have the opportunity or the motive."

"But-- But-- But Jonoko was poisoned right after she ate the hors d'oeuvé!" Manny said angrily, "He poisoned it-- he knew which one she would take--"

"Impossible." Conan interrupted in Kogoro's voice, "Because everyone took one-- Ran, Conan, and Sonoko took a handful-- _before _Jonoko chose. Who's to say that someone would have taken the poisoned one before Jonoko got to it?"

"Then how did Jonoko get poisoned, Mori?" Inspector Meguire asked from the doorway.

"Conan mentioned something when we first came," Conan said into the bow-tie, "This is a strange location for a private party... usually for celebrities, parties are held at mansions or private pubs, _not _a conference center."

"Yeah, but like Manny said it was totally chic!" Sonoko said with a pout.

"There was a specific reason that this place was chosen. For the bathroom."

"The bathroom?" Boi asked from where he was sitting on the floor, "That's absurd, Detective!"

"Maybe so," Kogoro seemed to say, "But it's true. Here at the conference center, unlike a private pub or mansion, there are public bathrooms, with more than one stall."

"Where is this going, Mori?" Meguire asked, crossing his arms.

"Someone poisoned the bathroom doorknob." Conan said slowly, "Then, when Jonoko ate the hors d'oeuvé, the poison was transferred from her fingers to her mouth."

"But--" Sonoko interrupted, "but if the doorknob was poisoned, how come Ran wasn't poisoned as well? She, like, totally went into the bathroom first to make sure it was safe."

"Because, Jonoko's paranoid."

"Quit all of this nonsense!" Manny cried suddenly, "This is crazy! There's absolutely no point to this-- you have no--"

"You told me yourself, Manny." Conan said. All eyes turned to the manager as Conan continued into the bowtie, "You said _'She even locks every door in sight.' _You admitted right then and there that you were the criminal. You poisoned the doorknob, Manny."

Manny began to sweat,  
"But--" he stuttered, "You never answered Miss Sonoko's question! How could only Sonoko have been poisoned if the poison had been on the knob?"

"Because you knew how paranoid she was. You said yourself that she locks every door in sight. You put the poison on the one place that only she would touch... not the lock on the stall, but on the bathroom door itself. Jonoko went in, locked the door behind her, did what she had to, and unlocked the door _after _she washed her hands. And it was _you, _Manny, who poisoned the lock!"

"You have no proof!" Manny shouted as he pulled out his red handkerchief and dabbed his forehead, "If it even is as you say, the poison would be gone-- sucked off of her finger and digested!"

"On the contrary," Conan said, "You tried to leave in order to ditch the evidence earlier. Before, when you dropped your kerchief, you said you only had one with you."

"That-- that's true!" Manny said, holding up the red one.

"No it isn't. The one you dropped was blue." The manager's eyes grew wide as Mori seemed to continue,  
"You sweat excessively-- you said it had something to do with the appearance of such a big star. You meant me, not Jonoko. You were worried when you saw me because of what you knew you were going to do! The red handkerchief was the sweaty one and I do believe the one in your right pocket, the blue one, reeks of the poison-- poison XIIV, as the medics said."

A murmur travled through the watching crowd as Conan narrowed his eyes,  
"If you wouldn't mind, would you take out the blue handkerchief in your right pocket? If the poison matches the poison on the lock, you're the perp."

Manny stood still for a moment, then shook his head sadly,  
"You really are a great Detective Mori," he said, carefully pulling out a blue handkerchief, "I thought it would be the perfect crime."

"But why?" Boi said fiercely as he stood, "Why would you do that to Jonoko!? And why did you try to frame me!?"

"I believe he already admitted why. He said himself, _'She's completely paranoid... it's really starting to tamper with our success!'" _Conan said through the bow-tie.

The manager shook his head, defeated,  
"For the past couple of months, she became super paranoid. Everywhere we went-- every concert, she would be completely freaked out! She started to have to lip sync at every appearance we did because she would lose concentration! At one," he grumbled, "she was found out."

"Oh yeah." Meguire said, "I remember reading something about that in the paper. The sound went out and she kept moving her lips."

"It caused a huge scandal. If it was found out that she continued to lip sync afterwards, my merit as a manager would go down the drain-- I just had to get rid of her! Besides, anyone can lip sync! I don't need to over-pay a paranoid freak!" he roared as he turned to Boi, "And I'm sure, Mr. Goth-creep, that it was you who made her paranoid in the first place! If you had just shut up, you would have been in jail, Jonoko would be dead, and I'd get out, scoff-free!"

"Meguire!" Conan said as the manager approached the man with the green Mohawk, "Arrest that man!"

"Gladly!" Meguire said as he and several other officers charged the man and handcuffed him. With great difficultly, the officers managed to drag the maniacal manager to the door.

"This isn't the last of me!" the semi-bald man shouted as Meguire pulled him out, "I'll get you Boi, Mori-- all of you punks!"

"Not where you're going." Conan said into the bow-tie as the officers pulled him out.

"Hey," Boi said, turning to Sonoko and Ran, "I... I'm sorry that I might've acted a little suspicious... bu the thing is... I was really worried about Jo'."

Sonoko clapped him on the back,  
"No worries! But you told me before that you were going to do something surprising tonight! For a second, I thought you were the poisoner!"

Boi laughed nervously and reached into his pocked, pulling out a small box,  
"Truth is... I was going to propose tonight." He flipped open a box and a bright diamond ring glittered up at the awestruck girls, "I really care about her and I worry about her all the time--"

"Hey!" Ran asked suddenly, "Where's Conan!?" She looked around worriedly. Conan scrambled out from underneath the table and pulled on the hem of Ran's dress,  
"I'm right here, Ran-neechan!" he said innocently.

"Don't run away like that, I was so worried!" Ran said as she took Conan's hand. Inside, Shinichi blushed like a tomato.

"Hey!" Sonoko said perkily, "The medics said that Jonoko's going to be just fine-- if we go to the hospital now, you can still propose tonight when she wakes up!"

Boi's eyes brightened and a grin formed on his multiply-pierced lips,  
"What are we waiting for!? Let's go!" With that, he Sonoko, Ran, and Conan rushed out, climbing into a limo.

As they drove down the road, Ran frowned,  
"I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Eh, you'll think of it later." Sonoko said as she giddily looked at the engagement ring again.

Meantime...

Kogoro yawned, stretched and sat up in the nearly-empty convention center. Meguire stood nearby with another investigator.

"Hey!" Kogoro slurred, "What happened? Where'd everybody go?"

Meguire looked up,  
"Oh! Mori, I was wondering when you'd wake up! Brilliant job with this case!"

Kogoro raised an eyebrow,  
"Wha--? I-- of course! It was brilliant, wasn't it!"

"I just can't believe that Manny did it." Meguire said as he stuffed another hors derv in his mouth.

"What!? Manny the manager!?"

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**Well? That was my first mystery story! I hope you liked it! It should be the first of three, I believe! Please do tell me what you think! I might edit it at a later time, by the way.**

**Thank you so much for reading! Please review and take a look at some of my other stories!**

**Mysteria Pearl**


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